Doing your part to help the planet doesn't always involve sacrifice — in some cases, it can be as easy and welcome as eating some delicious crab.
Experts on both coasts of the United States are urging people to eat more European green crabs, The Weather Network reported.
The European green crab, which came to North America in the 1800s from (you guessed it, Europe) is "considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment," according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. Outside of its natural European habitats, the green crab has few predators, destroys seagrass, and outcompetes native species for food and resources.
To combat the problem, experts are attempting to introduce a new predator for the green crab: hungry humans.
In some cases, this involves getting creative. Gabriela Bradt, a fisheries extension specialist at the University of New Hampshire's Sea Grant program, has been experimenting with various ways of preparing green crab in an effort to increase consumer demand.
"I have a really amazing chef friend … she came up with a salted green crab roe ice cream, which — I know it sounds really weird, but it was amazing," Bradt said. "She had salted the crabs beforehand, it's kind of like a fermenting process, and then she picked the roe and put it in a vanilla-based ice cream and it almost tasted like toasted coconut."
Of course, you don't have to get creative to enjoy some delicious crab. Bradt was also quick to point out that her favorite crab preparation "is boiled the same way that you would do a blue crab or a regular other crab and just pick some of the meat," adding, "And then I do like to put some of that meat and the roe from the females into a ramen."
Eating invasive species to help curb their populations has become an increasingly popular approach around the world. In Italy, experts are urging people to eat more blue crab (native to North America, invasive over there).
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In Australia, there is an annual competition to see who can fish the most invasive carp (which are then eaten), and in Virginia, experts are urging people to catch and eat more catfish. Never before has helping to protect the environment been so delicious.
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